Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

To Boldy Blow: Gunpowder artist beamed in by Jean-Luc Picard

Frank To creating his artworks with gunpowder.
Frank To creating his artworks with gunpowder.

A Scottish artist whose work has won him international acclaim has turned to alchemy for his latest creative efforts.

Perth College art lecturer Frank To has developed a unique technique of combining ignited gunpowder and black powder to create pictures.

The atmospheric results have won the approval of the Royal Scottish Academy and he has had works accepted for their prestigious current open exhibition at The Mound in Edinburgh

“As I’m from Chinese descent, gunpowder plays a major role in my culture,” said Mr To, 34.

“The new works are made with gunpowder and black powder. It’s a very unusual technique that I have developed and it’s taken two years to perfect it.

“It was at Perth College and it was thanks to its facilities that I was able to research the method and adapt it physically in my studio.

“As far as I know, I’m the only one in Scotland using this medium. I’m hoping that exhibiting these new works for the first time at the Royal Scottish Academy will be well received. It’s new territory for me.”

Morningless

The Royal Scottish Academy open exhibition has a long history of celebrating the best of contemporary practice and Mr To’s works will be on display until August 30.

The art lecturer’s painting technique has already garnered him international recognition from art critics and high-profile collectors alike including actor Sir Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame and New York-based Michel Witmer, who hangs his paintings alongside those of Picasso, Dine and Warhol.

Patrick Stewart is a fan of Mr T's work.
Patrick Stewart is a fan of Mr To’s work.

Born in Falkirk Mr To graduated from the University of Huddersfield before going on to gain a masters of fine art from Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee.

In recent years he has exhibited alongside some of the greats of the international art scene, including Banksy, Jimmy Choo and Antony Gormley and his work has featured on television in E4’s Made In Chelsea and STV’s Rebus.